TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President’s Special Adviser for Ethnic Minorities Ali Younesi dismissed any relations between the deeds of ISIL terrorist group and Islamic guidelines, and called for cooperation between Islam and Christianity to prevent further spread of extremism in the world.

“The biggest problem threatening religion is religion without ethics and ethics without religion and if we omit ethics from religion, different types of extremism will be created and we are witnessing it in the world today,” Younesi said, addressing a gathering in Tehran on Tuesday afternoon.

“What is now being carried out by groups like the ISIL and Taliban under the name of Islam is not related to Islam at all,” he added.

“The followers of divine religions should present a new definition for the religious mission and saving human beings from atheism, secularism and extremism, and this needs mutual cooperation between Islam and Christianity,” Younesi said.

In relevant remarks yesterday, Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati in a meeting with a group of representatives of the Catholic Church called on Christian and Muslim scholars to combat extremism and radicalism.

“Islam and Christianity must join hands to confront extremism and these dialogues can be useful for Muslim and Christian communities,” Jannati said in a meeting with Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the senior advisor in charge of religious dialogue of World Catholic Leader Pope Francis, in Tehran on Tuesday.

He noted that the most important issue of the world today is the issue of violence and extremism in the Middle East.

The Iranian culture and Islamic guidance minister pointed to the last year proposal of President Hassan Rouhani at the UN General Assembly for ‘the World Against Violence and Extremism (WAVE)’ and its later approval by the UN, and said “Although this proposal was unanimously approved by the UNGA members, we are still witnessing violence, bloodshed and massacre of children and women.”

Cardinal Tauran, for his part, said that the Muslims and Christians had always worked together throughout the history and have created interesting phenomena.

“Unfortunately today we see some incidents that are not done by the Muslims and I believe that they are done by the criminals, but leave a bad image from the Muslims,” Cardinal Louis said.

On September 25, 2013, President Rouhani proposed “the World against Violence and Extremism” initiative in his address to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

On December 18, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to approve President Rouhani’s proposal, which called on all nations across the globe to denounce violence and extremism.

On December 20, Iran offered to host an international conference on UN resolution adopted based on President Rouhani’s WAVE initiative.

In September 2014, President Rouhani underlined that he was determined to put the UN resolution on “WAVE” into effect during the 69th annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

“Last year (the threats and dangers of) violence and extremism were proposed (by Iran) as one of the significant issues of the world,” Rouhani told reporters upon arrival in New York’s John F Kennedy Airport on September 22, adding, “I hope this year we will discuss the issue and the ways to counter it as well.”

“We introduced violence and extremism as important problems of the world,” President Rouhani reiterated.